3-16-2017
12:45 P.M.-2:45 P.M. (2 hours)
Mrs. Bolme-Speech and Language Pathologist
Miller Elementary School
I observed Mrs. Bolme in the afternoon on the second day of observing her work. When I arrived, Mrs. Bolme was working with a student who had Spine Bifida. They were working on a Mike and Molly story, and her student was working on answering the questions about the story. The next student Mrs. Bolme worked with had Autism, and he completed the three work tasks, listened to a Mike and Molly story, and received the reward of playing the iPad for completing his work. Mrs. Bolme and I then went to the second-grade wing of Miller Elementary school where she worked with an RTI student who has trouble saying his Rs. Mrs. Bolme used an iPad app with flashcards for the student to practice saying his Rs. Mrs. Bolme and I then went back to her room where she worked with two students who have trouble seeing other people's perspectives. The two students wrote down people's perspectives based off pictures of characters and empty thought bubbles. Her next student had trouble with pronunciation, so she played a card game with him to help him improve his articulation. The final student I observed Mrs. Bolme work with needed assistance on comprehension, so we played Bingo asking questions.
3-15-2017
8:45 A.M.-11:15 A.M. (2.5 hours)
Mrs. Bolme-Speech and Language Pathologist
Miller Elementary School
During this observation day, I got to observe Mrs. Bolme throughout the morning. The first two students Mrs. Bolme worked with had Autism. The first student had some behavioral issues, and at first, he didn't want me to observe his work with Mrs. Bolme. However, I was able to listen to their session due to the separating walls in the room. Later, her student did let me observe him bowling which was his reward. The next student I observed Mrs. Bolme work with was another student who had Autism. The student has a schedule where he completes three sensory tasks, listens to a Matt and Molly story, and receives a reward of playing with the iPad if he completes everything. Both boys completed their jobs beautifully. After working with the two boys, Mrs. Bolme and I went to the first-grade wing of Miller Elementary where she worked with three students on comprehension and phonemic awareness. The next first grader Mrs. Bolme worked with had ADHD and needed assistance improving his memory skills. After working in the first-grade wing, Mrs. Bolme and I went to the second-grade wing where she worked with two groups of students on forming questions with Bingo.
3-14-2017
8:45 A.M.-11:45 A.M. (3 hours)
Mrs. Bolme-Speech and Language Pathologist
Miller Elementary School
Since Mrs. Bolme had to deal with an unexpected situation, I first observed the other Speech and Language Pathologist at Miller Elementary, Mrs. Carrie Axt. Mrs. Axt works with third through fifth graders. I got to observe Mrs. Axt working with some of her students in the morning. The first student she worked with was a student with Autism who has difficulty communicating verbally but excels with visual communication. The next student Mrs. Axt worked with was a fifth-grade student who needed to work on reading comprehension. Mrs. Axt had an amazing kid's news app for students to keep up with what is going on in the world. I also got to observe Mrs. Axt working with a group of fifth graders on writing skills and staying organized with their thoughts. Since Mrs. Axt had to leave to go to another school, I observed an instructional aide work with a student with Down Syndrome on a picture read. I ended the observation by attending a very informative IEP meeting. This was the first IEP meeting I ever attended and gave me an idea of what all goes into ensuring the success of all students.
3-10-2017
10:15 A.M.-11:35 A.M. (1 hour 20 minutes)
Mrs. King-Speech and Language Pathologist
Wachter Middle School
On my final day of observation, students began with the normal routine of beginning class with Six-Minute Solutions. Afterward, students worked on their summary on the book about Bigfoot and whether they believed it exists. Mrs. King also looked at their papers when they were done to provide feedback on their work. The class finished with a Words Their Way packet. The next period began with the second reading comprehension class completing Six-Minute Solutions. Students who didn’t need to work on reading fluency were working on a word sort. The students finished the T-rex: Predator or Scavenger book and used their graphic organizer to help determine whether they thought the dinosaur was a predator or a scavenger. Before I left, students were assigned to write a paragraph about whether they thought the t-rex was a predator or scavenger.
3-8-2017
10:15 A.M.-12:25 P.M. (2 hours 10 minutes)
Mrs. King-Speech and Language Pathologist
Wachter Middle School
I arrived for the first reading comprehension class where they were working on improving reading fluency with Six-Minute Solutions. Students paired up to work on a worksheet where they practiced capitalization. Afterward, students worked on their Words Their Way packet to improve their spelling. The second reading comprehension class began with Six-Minute Solutions. Then, they read T-Rex: Predator or Scavenger and worked on picking out the main ideas from the story to prove whether the t-rex was a predator or a scavenger using a graphic organizer. I also observed Mrs. King's sixth-grade replacement English class where students also began the period with Six-Minute Solutions. The students then worked on their rough draft paper about a book called Making a Map in Layers. Mrs. King showed me the curriculum she uses with the class called Language X which I thought nicely split up language and reading concepts.
3-3-2017
10:15 A.M.-11:35 A.M. (1 hour 20 minutes)
Mrs. King-Speech and Language Pathologist
Wachter Middle School
Students in the first reading comprehension class were beginning the period with Six-Minute Solutions. The students then worked on a worksheet about Thomas Jefferson and his interest in architecture because students were missing from the class. They first read the passage on the worksheet and then answered some questions pertaining to the passage. When the next period began, Mrs. King had the same group of students in the social group where students played Guess Who.
2-27-2017
10:15 A.M.-11:35 A.M. (1 hour 20 minutes)
Mrs. King-Speech and Language Pathologist
Wachter Middle School
When I arrived for observation, the first reading comprehension class was working on reading fluency with Six-Minute Solutions. Students also worked on a Words Their Way packet which is a weekly spelling intervention where students work on concepts such as prefixes and suffixes. At the end of the period, students continued reading a book called Die Laughing. I also observed a social group which I enjoyed where students work on getting out of their bubble. They played a game where they practiced asking each other questions.
2-24-2017
10:15 A.M.-11:35 A.M. (1 hour 20 minutes)
Mrs. King-Speech and Language Pathologist
Wachter Middle School
On my first day of observation, I observed Mrs. King teaching one of her reading comprehension classes. I learned students in middle school in the Bismarck district receive speech and language services as a class instead of being pulled out of the classroom. The students were working on fluency by reading for a minute and having their partner record their time and errors. The students were reading a book on Bigfoot and picking out the main points of the story to write a paper later. When the period ended, a larger reading comprehension group came to the classroom where some students work on reading fluency and others focus on reading skills. The students began reading a story on stranded whales and worked on writing the events in order on a sequence chart.